This books explores varying conceptions of the Nightmare hag, mara, in Scandinavian folk belief. What began as observations of some startling narratives preserved in folklore archives where sex, violence and curses are recurring themes gradually led to questions as to how rural people envisaged good and evil, illness and health, and cause and effect. At closer reading, narratives about the mara character involve existential themes, as well as comments on gender and social hierarchy. This monograph analyses how this female creature was conceived of in oral literature and everyday ritual practice in pre-industrial Scandinavia, and what role she played in a larger pattern of belief in witchcraft and magic.

Auteur
Catharina Raudvere is Professor in the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies in the Section for the History of Religions at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Résumé
This books explores varying conceptions of the Nightmare hag, mara, in Scandinavian folk belief. What began as observations of some startling narratives preserved in folklore archives where sex, violence and curses are recurring themes gradually led to questions as to how rural people envisaged good and evil, illness and health, and cause and effect. At closer reading, narratives about the mara character involve existential themes, as well as comments on gender and social hierarchy. This monograph analyses how this female creature was conceived of in oral literature and everyday ritual practice in pre-industrial Scandinavia, and what role she played in a larger pattern of belief in witchcraft and magic.

Contenu
Part I: Why the Nightmare Hag?1.Why the Nightmare Hag? Points of departurePART II: Imagining the Nightmare Hag and Warding Her Off2.Imagining of the Nightmare Hag3.Protection Against the Nightmare Hag4.The Nightmare Hag and Magic ThinkingPart III: Narrating About the Nightmare Hag5.A Model for an Analysis of the Hag Legends6.Analogy Legends7.Curse Legends8.The Man Who Caught the Hag9.The Nightmare Hag: narrative figure, personal experience and explanation of misfortune. Some concluding remarks